Today is Anna´s day; the 9th of December. So congratulations to my sisters! I celebrated by having some chocolate ice-cream. My favorite. What would life be without chocolate? Nothing.

I am getting a little bored so I thought I had to do something I would never do. So I am going to an ice-hockey game. I like hockey, but when I watch I only watch the world hockey games on tv. When I was little I remember the Russian hockey player Krutov. But this will be Swedish hockey. Allsvenskan. I picked the teams meeting each other by chance. I really do not have any favorites. So this is not what I usually do, but I need to just change focus for a while. Do something different. It will be great fun!

To reveal a secret, I sometimes get very jealous of those who are professional in a sport. I was good at skiing when I was little, but it stayed at that level. So, I stay close to my usual training. Feel sad that I will never become professional in a sport. I am instead working on to become a professional writer. Wish me good luck!

Hope there will be snow soon. That would brighten my day.

🙂

Anna

Dear readers. How are you today? I went for tuff training last night so I thought that I would wake up with muscle pain, but I didn´t. Good to have muscle strength. I have seen that they are doing a “make over” of the training center I went to in Norway when I worked there. At Kråkerøy, where I have spent many hours. Beautiful view over the river, especially wintertime.

It is good to have routines in life. Work, and then exercise. Or training and then work. There are many Norwegians working and living in Sweden, so sometimes I speak Norwegian. Almost five years has passed since I lived in Norway, so I have to think before I speak. Find Norwegian words.

As you know I like languages a lot and it has taken a lot of time to understand Norwegian. I remember I felt so stupid when all Norwegians new Swedish and I didn´t understand Norwegian. They are grown up with Swedish tv. Today is different. A lot of Norwegian tv shows are in Swedish tv.

When I performed exercise in Norway I wrote a training diary. Not a public one like now.  I went running when the weather permitted. Løpe (“löpe”) is the Norwegian word for running. And in Swedish that is something completely different. This is playing with words. I know that in France “jeux de mots” is very common. Swedish language is not that fun. Maybe because there are not that many synonyms. I don´t know. But it is fun when you learn different languages and understand that one word in Swedish is not the same as in Norwegian. But at least, it makes you laugh 😉

I understand Danish much better since I have learnt some Norwegian. Finnish is very difficult. But that has something to do from where languages derive. Finnish is connected to several languages in some way. I really don´t remember. Would like to learn more Scandinavian languages.

Ok, all for today. A whole, new day ahead with a lot of smiles! It feels like it is easier with my December campaigne. It really works to “fool” my brain. If I smile I feel much happier. Have a try, and don´t forget – it is for free!

🙂

Anna

Dull weather today, and I must admit that I was tired when I woke up. Lots of cross country skiing on tv. Like that a lot but I have heard so much about Mall of Scandinavia so I went there today to start to have a look for christmas give aways. Maybe also because I have thought a lot about sweet auntie. I remember the first time I was in the US and she took us to all shopping malls. I remember I was astonished because everything was open 24 hours. Shopping malls, including shopping, movie and sports like bowling, is not yet that common in Sweden; but here we go! It was very nice and relaxing.

Honestly, I didn´t shop anything, I just had a look to find out what to give to my family. Always difficult. But a lot of fun. It does´t have to cost much, it is the thought that counts. So, since I didn´t shop I went for a brunch buffé. Very American. So this weekend has been dedicated to sweet auntie.

Now I am off for some training. After this very good brunch I definitely need to get rid of some pounds.

All the best!

Anna

Yes. December campaign is definitely needed. Sweden has been caught by a storm. Trains are cancelled. Roads have been closed due to fallen trees. This happens sometimes so it is normal. It is fascinated that weather is such a strong force and has big impact on humans. Since there is so little sun during this time of the year I have some extra vitamins.

So, it is challenging with December campaign, but it makes good. Did you know that when you smile you activate certain areas in the brain that make you happy? If you smile, and actively think of smiling, you can feel that you are happier. Or what do you think?

Yesterday I had a cosy Friday evening at home alone watching the final program of Swedish Idol. I think Idol is common in a lot of countries so a lot of people know what it is.  Nice music. I like music a lot. Makes me feel good.

Ok, a lot of talk about December campaign, but don´t you agree that a smile cheers you up 😉

Anna

Today I learnt an expression that if you smile, the whole world will smile to you. Very nice expression. Persian. I like to learn new things. But this is not easy. To smile, to always wear a happy face. Since my auntie is connected to America I have learnt that the life style over there is more easy going. Maybe it is temperature dependent. Climate related. I don´t know, but I continue with my December campaign. And it is challenging; especially if you get upset over something.

I don´t know why but I get upset that I have to tell people that I have Lappish origin. This is something I maybe have to get used to. I have grown up with two identities: Swedish and Lappish. However, this is very common in Sweden since there are many people with parents from two different countries. Lappish people have been considered as black people for a long time in Swedish history. This is changing now but I got upset when I read that Lappish people are not invited to the climate meeting. Again, some kind of discrimination. I feel sad about this so that is why it is difficult to constantly smile. But I work on it. And I will, whole December.

Anna